


Penny for your thoughts, Doc?

by MisMisto



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Beer, Fluff, Gen, Headcanon, Mild Language, mentions of injury, mentions of light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisMisto/pseuds/MisMisto
Summary: Headcanons about our favourite combat physicist that absolutely no one asked for, ranging from physical appearance to the time he drank a bottle of (possibly expired) hot sauce. Expect over the top speculation, some canon sprinkled on top, and a lot of beer.
Kudos: 12





	Penny for your thoughts, Doc?

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing a lot of headcanon lists going around after the renewed attention to the series, I thought I'd share my take on whatever could be going on in Gordon's head, and then some. Could be classified as pure trash, but I had a lot of fun putting what I've thought about him in the last decade into words, and I hope it brightens your day as well!

-He’s definitely tol. 186 or even 189 cm (so that’s like, 6’3?).

-Thicc wavy dark ginger/auburn hair and green eyes. #make ginger gordo canon 

-His build is thin and fit. Was a must for everyone to stay in shape in Black Mesa. Not that he was complaining, as he’s actually partial to sports unlike some of his peers and getting to spend more time in the training area with the bois (the security guards) is always a plus. Gotten a bit thicker around the legs over time from all the running.

-Imagine his voice to be really close to Bernhard Forcher’s, the guy who played him in _[The Freeman Chronicles](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D7GJ1CQ8A9cE&t=ODY5NWU0OGFjMjgzYTI2ZjkwMWZmMWZiOWIyMDhlMDBiOTA5YjU4OSw0MzM0N2Y2ZWZhZjMwYzc5MjM3ZTQxZGQwMzlkOTljNTk0YTNlODk3)_.

-Can probably play a couple instruments. Has a soft spot for guitars.

-Ridiculously good singing voice. Hums Blues to himself when working. 

-Likes to travel, helps him get his bearings. Imagine him to be multilingual too and, based on his Austria experience, familiar with the types of German, as well as Dutch.

-A renaissance boi who has a knack for pretty much everything (see above). Canonically a complete nerd.

-If you were to ask him what his favourite colour is you could get one of two possible answers: gray, because he's never really thought about it and that's just the colour of his favourite sweatshirt, or.. nothing, because now he's _actually_ thinking about it and he tells you to ask him again in a while after he's made up his mind. 

(Completely forgets about it in a couple of minutes.) 

-Not sure what I think about his birthday, but what if it was a couple of days before the incident, or even just the _day_ before, and the crazy party they threw was exactly why he was late (then imagine there was a bet and the next day: "Awh man you cut the ponytail").

Or even better, the release date of Half-Life, November 19. (That’d make him a Taurus or a Scorpio then? Hm!)

-Bisexual, or even pansexual. Open with his sexuality. High sex drive. Can be a bit of a jerkass & deadpan snarker, but he means well. See _“[Not Barney](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F7643258%2F1%2FNot-Barney&t=YzlmZjBjOGE5ZTY0OThkMmYzMzk3OWEwZWYwN2NhZTE4ZGM4N2I5Myw3NThkOGI4ZDQ3NTc1MTNhYTJjZDZmYTE4YmVkOTUwOTc1OTljZTc1)_” for details (Absolute gold of a story. One for the history books of HL fandom. Do check it out. Definitely nsfw) Relationships haven’t really went well so far.

-Has about 15 pairs of glasses in case he needs a replacement because of an explosion or whatever. They definitely came in handy.

_“Why didn’t you try contact lenses?”_

_“I’ve got astigmatism so I needed to look for a different type, not to mention the process of getting used to ‘em. Couldn’t really bother at the time. Not that I haven’t tried before, but it was… pretty weird.”_

_“I can imagine!”_

-Likes all animals but I imagine he’d prefer cats a liiittle bit more. 130% would name a cat Schrödinger, or a dog Laika.

-Troublemaker. _Huge_ troublemaker. Judging by the annoyed-but-not-so-surprised reactions he gets when he wreaks havoc, that’s basically canon at this point. Pushing buttons he’s not supposed to, getting in vents and making ghost sounds, burning food, ditching work to drink beer with Barns, messing with paperwork, pushing cups off of tables like a cat, etc. Cue the “[Bunny-Ears Lawyer](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki.php%2FMain%2FBunnyEarsLawyer&t=YjQxOWJiZDRiYTk4MzdiYzgxNjBiNDI1ODBlNDFmZTRlMWI5NzE3MixhNDlkM2ZlMmI3MzZhNTkzN2NhZTkxZTlhNmMyNzdlYzc2ZTM0MWQz)” trope. A little subdued after the incident as he’s still in shock, but the crew manages to coax it out of him eventually. Kleiner’s kind of like “Aw shit, here we go again” when it returns full force in White Forest, but he’s truly glad it did.

_“Is it true you chugged 500 grams of sweet and spicy sauce at a party?”_

_“…Yeah.”_

_“Oh boy.. What happened?”_

_“Nothing good.”_

_-_ Jokes around a lot. Loves to laugh and loves to make people laugh. Cue a shit-eating grin when he does. Uses humour as a coping mechanism (who doesn’t?). 

*gets stabbed in the chest by a helicopter blade*

_“Shit! Someone bring a medkit and a backboard… Gordon, are you awake?”_

_“..Hello.”_

-Definitely a beer guy. He’s fresh off of college _and_ a physicist. Canon. I’m guessing he’d enjoy shots just as well.

-Needs about 5 hours of sleep to function, usually not in one go. Habit from college. Got worse after the incident. Used to go walking around the facility or try and get some work done back in Black Mesa, now he wanders around White Forest, drinks to ease his nerves, cries for as long as he needs, talks to anyone else who might be up, including D0G. Usually calms him down.

-King of caffeinated and/or carbonated drinks. Once burped for 10 seconds straight at a college party. Right in a friend’s ear, too.

_“This must be what Singularity feels like.”_

-Top of his class. Studied _and_ partied hard. Poor guy was almost always exhausted. Slept in Kleiner’s classes.

 _“James, could you please wake Gordon up so he doesn’t_ drool _all over his paper?”_

_“Sure thing, professor.”_

_“Thank you very m-.. Oh dear.. I think you could have been less forceful with that push, hm? That looked like it might bruise. Good morning, Gordon! If you are sufficiently recharged, and are not in the need for some ice for your forehead, perhaps you would like to tell us about your interpretation for a plasmonic device?_

And he does. He does, then after class, he punches James in the face. They throw punches for a couple of minutes before remembering their homework. They make truce, do it together, figure out they work quite well and have a beer afterwards. He cites their fight in his thesis as a source of inspiration.

-He met Stephen Hawking once when he visited MIT. The photos of him crying circulated all around the campus. Once he and his friends went on a mission to collect them all but they gave up after 45, a dozen of them were in the women’s bathrooms in the Biology building.

_“Freeman I find it hard to believe you didn’t put these here yourself.”_

Legend has it that there’s still some left over to this day.

-Deep thinker. Thinks too much about everything, never mind the 10+ theories and calculations he constantly mules over in his head whenever he comes across a space-time conundrum, which seems to happen _a lot_ these days. He’s not a babbler- that is, he talks when and as much as is necessary, and his silence is usually mistaken for distance or unwillingness to talk, but he’s just internally screaming and just needs a nudge to bounce back.

_He feels someone rubbing his shoulder and blinks, his vision clearing. He turns slightly to see Alyx squatting next to him. She smiles warmly._

_“Welcome back.”_

_“Hey.” He smiles back. “Sorry, I was a hundred miles away.”_

_“Don’t worry about it,” she winks, then offers him a hand. He takes it and she pulls him up on his feet. “Was just asking what you wanted to eat.”_

_Gordon looks up at her as he’s brushing the dust off his thighs. “What’re my options?”_

_“Mexican and Chinese food.”_

_“Gotta go with Chinese.”_


End file.
